MLS rankings, round 7

The Clint Dempsey scoring machine has propelled the Sounders to the top of the Deseret News Major League Soccer power rankings. But former No. 1 Real Salt Lake hasn't fallen far from the top.

Seattle Sounders

Now this is the Clint Dempsey we thought the Sounders were getting last season. He has scored five goals in two weeks in two road games (six if you count the own goal by Stephen Keel — and I would, but that’s a discussion for another day).

Real Salt Lake

The MLS season is a campaign. Jeff Cassar’s men seem to be taking this mentality as RSL has toughed out points on the road while picking up solid wins when it can. Was it disappointing to let four points slip away at San Jose and at Philadelphia? Sure, but it can’t be understated that the Claret and Cobalt is the last undefeated team in the league.

Things are really clicking for the Crew. With Federico Hugain scoring, and Hector Jimenez, playing excellent soccer, hard to see any other team as better than Columbus in the Eastern Conference.

Sporting KC

Sporting is still up there with Columbus for best in the league, but not playing this week drops it down the rankings a bit. A Columbus-Sporting affair would surely be fun to watch.

Colorado Rapids

Edson Buddle’s 99th career MLS goal helped Colorado knock off Toronto FC and punctuates a disturbing new trend for Rapids haters: Colorado is suddenly winning on the road. The Rapids already have two away victories, exactly half of what it had for the entire 2013 season.

Toronto FC

Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley were both out this week for Toronto, which may be a reason why it lost to Colorado. It appears its roster isn’t as deep as Bradley and Defoe’s pockets.

Vancouver Whitecaps

The Whitecaps need an injection of scoring. After scoring five goals in its first two games, the Canadian club has scored just three in its last four games. It’s not all bad news for Vancouver, though. The team is preparing for “Saturday Night Fever” on May 3 as part of its 40-year anniversary celebration.

Philadelphia Union

The Union just did not go away against Real Salt Lake. The cool thing is that Andrew Wenger, who it recently traded for from Montreal, scored a goal in this one.

L.A. Galaxy

The Galaxy will try to replicate its home victory over the Whitecaps in Vancouver this weekend. It’ll probably need some more Robbie Keane magic.

DC United

Eddie Johnson still hasn’t scored, but at least DC United is winning now. Though it isn’t too hard to stop Red Bull New York these days.

The Fire is about as stale as you can get in MLS. It's out of playoff contention, and it barely got by against the Montreal Impact this week. Mike Magee got an assist, so at least he’s still in-form.

New England Revolution

New England just brought Houston back down to Earth with a 2-0 victory over the Orange. The Revs also finally got a goal from Jerry Bengtson, who hadn’t scored for the Revs since March 3, 2013. Yikes!

Portland Timbers

Portland hasn’t been the same since RSL crushed it in last season’s Western Conference finals. The Timbers haven’t tasted victory all season despite Wil Johnson’s intensity.

Houston Dynamo

How the mighty have fallen. Houston’s bad play has finally caught up with it, as it couldn’t maintain New England at all this week.

Red Bull New York

New York doesn’t seem to be getting any positive results so far this season. Is coach Mike Petke in a sophomore slump? Maybe he’s giving more attention to players that he shouldn’t.

San Jose Earthquakes

If you’re making the case that Major League Soccer is deep, the Earthquakes is your Exhibit A. It sits at the foot of the MLS table, but it has picked up two solid draws against top-notch clubs in the Crew and Real.

Montreal Impact

The good news for the Impact is that its new acquisition, Jack McInerney, notched a goal in the 1-1 draw with Chicago. And that’s about it.

Atlanta

On Wednesday, MLS is expected to announce Atlanta as the latest market to earn a MLS franchise. The club will likely be owned by Arthur Blank, who owns the Atlanta Falcons, a team that will share its venue with this new Atlanta club.